In 2001, Roy Williams was considered the best Defensive Back in the college ranks. Playing for Oklahoma, Williams helped them the Sooners win the National Championship the year before, and in '01, he was an All-American, who won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Jim Thorpe Award and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. The Cowboys coveted him and would trade up to obtain him with the eighth overall pick in the '01 draft.
You always hear about the brilliance of Dallas Cowboy scouting (see Brandt, Gil), and likely that is how Calvin Hill was drafted in the first round out of Yale in 1969. The Ivy League wasn’t, and isn’t known for producing high-end offensive talent, but that is what the Cowboys got in Hill.
Flozell Adams played for the Dallas Cowboys for the first 12 years of his 13-year career, where he might be one of the most underrated Offensive Linemen in franchise history.
When the Dallas Cowboys had the “Triplets” of Quarterback, Troy Aikman, Running Back, Emmitt Smith, and Wide Receiver, Michael Irvin, there was another dependable offensive option in Tight End, Jay Novacek.
Central State in Wilberforce, Ohio, is not known for being a football factory, but they produced Erik Williams, who went there mainly because his grades were so weak, he could not get a Division I scholarship. No matter, as the Offensive Lineman was still turning heads, and he was a third round pick by the Cowboys in 1991.
When you think of Marquette, you don’t come up with visions of football. Perhaps that is because the program shut down in 1960, which was the year that George Andrie was a junior. This meant that during his senior year, he wasn’t playing football, and as such, slipped under the radar of many teams, but the Dallas Cowboys were not one of them. He was chosen by Dallas in the 6th Round, and he was set to begin his pro career.
At 6’ 9”, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, had one of the coolest and appropriate nicknames in not just football, but in all of sports.
It was fitting that Harvey Martin played his entire pro career with the Dallas Cowboys. Martin was born in Dallas, played at East Texas State, and was drafted in the 3rd Round by the Cowboys in 1973 and joined and immediately contributed to what was already a dominating defensive unit.
Cornell Green is another player on this list of all-time Dallas Cowboys who are played his entire pro career in the state of Texas.
If you were Tony Romo, you were either loved or hated, and there were times when he played, he was arguably both.
Drew Pearson went undrafted in 1973, but he would be signed by the Dallas Cowboys, and the product of the University of Tulsa would make the team. As a rookie, Pearson had 388 Receiving Yards and was also doing double duty as the Kick Returner, but he would shed the Special Teams role the following season while emerging as one of the game's elite Wide Receivers.
Bob Breunig was a superstar at Arizona State, where he won the WAC Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1973 and was a three-time All-WAC player. The Dallas Cowboys certainly noticed and were thrilled he was still available in the third round in 1975, and this would be the pro team that he played the entirety of his career.
Charlie Waters played his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys, but while he played in every game in his first three years (1970-72), the product of Clemson was considered inconsistent. He moved to Cornerback the next two seasons, but he found his true calling when he moved to Strong Safety in 1975.
Still with the Dallas Cowboys as of this writing, Zach Martin has played ten seasons in the NFL after being drafted 19th overall by Dallas out of Notre Dame.
Tyron Smith was considered to be one of the most coveted Offensive Lineman of the 2011 Draft, and it was the Dallas Cowboys who snagged the USC product ninth overall that year.
Darren Woodson was a second round pick from Arizona State in 1992, and the year after, he was the team's starting Strong Safety. In those two years, he helped Dallas win the Super Bowl, but he would have a much more significant role in the team moving forward.
Spending the first decade of his career with the Dallas Cowboys (1965-74), Bob Hayes had a spectacular beginning, where he went to the Pro Bowl in his first three seasons and was a First Team All-Pro in his second and fourth year. The Split End led the NFL in Touchdown Receptions in his rookie and sophomore year, and in both of those seasons, he went over the 1,000 Yard mark.
Playing his entire 14-year career with the Dallas Cowboys, Jethro Pugh was a late round pick from small Elizabeth City State College, and he would do that small North Carolina institution proud on football’s brightest stage.
Ezekiel Elliott had a really good run with the Dallas Cowboys, lasting eight years, and at one time, was considered one of the best Running Backs in the game.
Rayfield Wright came to Dallas as a seventh round pick in 1967, where in his first three seasons, he was used as an Offensive Tackle, Tight End, and occasional Defensive Tackle. By 1970, he settled in at Right Tackle, and it was there where he became one of the best at that position of all-time.